Sandhya Mridul oozes oomph at Lakme Fashion Week

By Shweta Thakur Mumbai, March 31 (IANS) Bollywood actor Sandhya Mridul created a flutter at the Lakme Fashion Week as she swayed and oozed oomph on the ramp in an outfit designed by Priya Kataria Puri. Decked in an off-white single shoulder short dress with asymmetrical hemline, the actor kicked off the show here late Sunday.

Her outfit was embellished with golden embroidery and a belt with geometric motifs. She sported a buffoon hairdo and carried an oversize golden flower clutch bag.

“Priya and I are childhood friends and she is very special to me. I usually defy glamour but when she called me up saying ‘I need the attitude that you have’, I couldn’t refuse her,” Sandhya told IANS.

With lounge music as the background score and blue velvet curtains at the entrance to the ramp, models set the ramp ablaze sporting cowl neck dresses, two-in-one ensembles stitched like kaftans on one side and fitted on the other, dresses with puffed cap sleeves, ruffled hemlines, sash and lots of disco ball shimmer.

Models also sashayed down the runways in saris, skirts, kurtas with churidars and stoles. “My collection, ‘Bombay Glam’, draws inspiration from Mumbai because as a child when I used to fly to the city with my mother, the air hostesses dressed in silk sarees and buffoon hairstyles fascinated me,” Puri said.

“Moreover, somehow or the other everyone is connected to Bollywood and Mumbai,” she added.

The colour palette was dominated by subtle hues - olives, off-whites, muted goldens, pinks, grays, greens and blacks. “I used fabrics like Benarasi silk, taffeta, satins, chiffons, georgettes and brocades. The brocades have floral prints and have been imported from France and parts of Europe and printed in India. The fabrics are so rich in themselves that I used muted shades,” she said.

“I also wanted to revive traditional Indian fabrics that our designers are slowly forgetting,” she added. The show ended with Gregory David Roberts, author of book, “Shantaram” and Puri’s muse Francoise Sturdza, Princess of Romania, dancing for a few minutes on the runway.

“A muse makes the work of a designer so easy. Princess Francoise is a true princess by heart and that’s why I selected her as my muse,” Puri said.

While Roberts sported a black suit and white shirt, Francoise was attired in a knee length beige dress in muted pink and green floral prints, highlighted with lots of shimmer.

“She creates such fantastic clothes, it can be worn anywhere - in India or outside,” Roberts said.

The princess added: “I am not only smitten by Puri’s creative brilliance, but she is also a very beautiful human being. All her designs are so feminine. I just love her collection.”

Model-turned-actor Anupama Verma was also present at the show. “Whether I walk the ramp or not, I try my best to attend Puri’s show as she is a friend of mine. I love her work.”

The five-day fashion fete, underway at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), will close April 2.